NateDJ

Any round stock the correct size works. You can even use a bolt and just hammer it like you would a rivet, Make sure you have ground the threads off first though as they will cause the tongs to bind up.

LOL what a fun way to teach little ones how to make things for fun and play... I have a 2yo and an 18mo who would be great candidates for a clay forging session :)

Ok after attempting many different suggestions I found myself with an ever widening strangly shaped hole not at all straight or resembling a square... so I put a 3/4" square tube in and welded it solid then ground the surface flat. It now fits a 1/2" square bar great and I hope that is going to be large enough!

Thanks millions for the help and suggestions!

Here is a look at what I have so-far:

The Anvil is made of forklift forks, I have no idea what it weighs but I can barely roll it over and in no way can i lift the thing. I do have a chain hoist I use to move it and even roll it over to work on it.

I had a little trouble with the Hardy hole, had a 1" round hole and with lots of advice from people on this site I tried several different things and finally settled on welding in a square tube and it now has a 1/2" hardy hole. If I find that is not large enough I can re drill it and put in a larger square tube I guess.

I left the eye on the fork to be used as additional tooling, if I find it gets in the way I will simply remove it.

The horn is still quite unfinished but I have already found it to be a little thin, will vibrate like crazy when hammering on it. It also needs the bottom cleaned up and rounded over as well as about 1/2 of the top will get rounded over. I think I will leave the back half of the horn square faced though as I have found it works nice for small stuff when I want to draw out something very small like a nail.

This anvil rings like a huge bell and almost hurts my ears and the rebound is good, especially if I am using my 2.5# hammer and hitting hard. Will have to develop some bounce control as I almost hit my self in the head last night from the bounce. No idea if that is good or bad but it is what I have so-far.

I have also included a picture of some of the things I have made my wife while learning how to make things, as well as a picture of the hardy tools I have made so-far.

I still have to get some steel for the feet of it so I can mount it to a good stand. I am going to build a 3 legged stand for it as has been suggested by many on this site.

Would be very interested in hearing your comments as to how you think this anvil will work for the long hall, I am likely to not get another anvil unless it is almost free as I hope to use this one. What changes would you make if it were yours and why would you make those changes? What additions should I make to it? Should I make a shelf on it? should I drill a pritchel hole, and if so what size should I drill it to?

Just a quick note on used motor oil forges. Make sure you have a good source of the oil before you decide to build it. I built mine and then found it was not legal for oil change places to sell/give away the used motor oil to an unlicensed recyclers. There is also a very competitive market for used motor oil which is converted to home heating oil by the recycling companies.

No idea on used vegetable oil, I haven't gotten that far yet.

Ima try it with a sawzall today, I grabbed 4-5 good blades from lowes last night and if i dull them up i can still use them in my first forge welding experiment/disaster/what ever it turns out to be.
Will post pictures of the results...

Yep the face is on the body, or 1/2 of the body anyway there is a good 2" clearance around the sides of the underside of the hole though. I am going to go home tonight and stare at a while and see what comes to me to do seems to work most of the time. @ $20.00 for a file already made... sounds like the right tool for the job if I decide to go that rout as any decent file the size and quality I would need will cost that already. I am leaning toward the square tube idea but I will have to mesure the tube and make sure I can get the right od/id / insert material. I would prefer to not have to forge every hardy shank to size if it isn't necessary simply due to my current skill as a blacksmith the likelihood of me getting a properly fitting square every time is ... well ... LOL I would just do it on a grinder! :)

Waterjet Technologies
806 W Main Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73106

Says they can do it for less than $100.00 so If I can't find another way I may save my money for that. Thanks for the idea!

Hmm... I like the square tube idea... took me over an hour to drill the hole and that was with a large 16 speed floor standing drill press set on it's lowest speed and drilling a 1/2" pilot hole. I use Marvel Mystery Oil for a cutting fluid, always have and it seems to work very well and kinda smells nice to.

Is there a reason not to use a smaller hardy? I know I am being lazy and not wanting to go buy a larger drill bit and re drill the hole, but since I don't know the reason for the hardy being 1" I have to ask.

A file on this thing is going to take me longer than it would to build a powered hacksaw that would just saw away at it for a while. O.O Hmmm... what about using a jig saw with a high-speed steel cutting blade and trimming the corners? May be hard to get started but I have some 1" rod that I could put in the hole and then do the 4) 1/8" holes in the corner, using the rod to help keep the drill bit going where I want it instead of off to the side and into the hole. Hmmm... LOL I may end up with a mess on my hands instead of a hardy hole

Thanks very much for the ideas Worst case I can use a file and put it in my jig saw with something on the backside to keep the thing pressed against the corner, and just keep pouring the cutting oil on.

I think I am going to have to get and post some pictures of this thing, It may give you guys a good laugh. Sofar it weighs much more than I can lift by my self and has a very loud ring with a deep resonance behind the ring if hit just right. I think my horn may be a little too narrow and long as it is only about 1"-1.5" thick where it enters the main body but then quickly turns to 2" so it may be vibrating sideways a bit. Having fun building it anyway!

Edit:
Just seen the water cutting idea, never thought of that but I have heard of it. Will check arround I know there are several places here in OKC that does this.

Thanks!

In the process of building my anvil I have drilled a 1" hole through the face plate and need to convert it from round to 1" square. The face plate is 2 1/2" x 5" x 24" and is a "good medium carbon steal" (or so I was told) It was at one time the upper portion of a forklift fork so it has a lot of "toughness" and I do not have the facilities to heat it enough to drift the hole square much less to heat treat it afterwards.

If this is something that must be done via a machine shop, I would like to know about what it will cost so I can start saving the money or perhaps try to come up with some other plan.

My alternate plan would be to drill a 1/2" hole 1" or so to the side of the hardy then I could use it for a prichel and as a stabilizer for the 1" hardy by putting 2 shafts on each of my hardy tools that I need to not turn when using them.

Comments / Suggestions / Warnings / Etc. welcome and even requested. Would hate to get this thing built and find it is not going to work!

They do, and I have been a "regular" on Saturdays for about a month now. Not seen any tools except for a very large (pallet size) pile of ~5/8" allen wrenches, a pile of which I took to make punches and chisels out of.
This is the place where I have purchased my forklift forks that I am making my anvil from.

Thanks for the info, this is exactly why I ask the question! I would have never known until I broke the big stupid Ok so I am saving up for a new (to me) vice. I have been to the farmers market and the guy there, only one left that sells this kind of stuff, tells me his brother in Louisiana has a nice vice or 3 and 2-3 good anvils, he also thinks it is good of me to teach my kids "how to shoo horses" so I am not sure what kind of anvils he has. He has no idea what he will want for the equipment but he should be able to get it up here "by this time next year". So ... ya I am going to have to look for a vice some where else.

Will try to make the conference but I have an anniversary around that time to so... no idea.

I am wondering what the advantages of a post vice over a machinist vice that is well mounted and of about the same weight?
Seems they are easier for me to find and would likely work but I have never used a post vice so I must ask the question.

Perhaps if I knew where you were located... if in or near OKC, I watched the scrap yard (Standard Iron, on East Reno just west of Eastern st.) place about a dump truck load of 3-8' x 1-3" black iron pipe in the "sell to the public" pile. most have a slight fullered groove about 3/4" from one end and no threads but still should work and $0.30@# so way cheaper than lowes/etc. store.

My dad was a welder all my life and usually kicked me out of the shop when I was too young so my younger brothers and I would get hammers and go to his scrap pile to "make stuff" after a while of beating pipes into "swords" and etc. we started asking dad to weld this/that and he decided we needed to learn to weld. He taught me to weld and use a torch to make things I needed or wanted instead of trying to go buy them.

While I was in the army I found myself repairing trucks and tanks which often had all kinds of damage so I would usually just get the torch out heat the piece up and beat it back into shape if it could be done, if not I would try to make a new part for it instead of waiting for the ultra slow supply system to get it for me, naturally there are many parts that one cannot make but surprisingly there were much more than I would have suspected that could be.

I have been out of the army for about 10 years now and have found the need for some tools and other stuff as well as a way to help reduce the stress of an office job downtown OKC, I started by going to the gym and sitting in the sauna etc. and that helped a lot but when I was out in the garage I usually found that at least in OK it is hotter in my garage with the door shut than in the gym sauna, and I don't have to pay for the time. So while I am out in the garage I decide to make a few things and get out my hammer again, a few days of taking stuff over to dads to cut or weld it up and I decided to buy a welder and torch of my own. Even with a welder and torch I found myself heating the project up and beating it to the direction I wanted if I could instead of cutting and re welding. I also found this to be a good stress relief!

My wife has "commissioned" me to build her a "nice" gate to shut the kids off from the dining room and kitchen as a plastic one doesn't hold up well enough but I just couldn't see putting up some type of plain welded mettle gate and I knew I could make something better if I put my mind to it. So I started searching the internet for ideas and found the blacksmithing community. I have been inspired and hooked ever since and my wife has a very long list of things she wants made, the real problem now is, she is looking over many of your sites and saying I want you to make me one of those... ya, me with weeks of experience making some thing it likely took an experienced blacksmith with a nice power hammer a month to build and she wants me to walk out in the shop and "Get-er-Done" well at least I have her support, and the support of people like you all.

The blueprint section is truly inspiring as it helps me to be able to break down this first very large project (large for me anyway) into many small ones and it causes me to feel like I can actually do it. The gate for instance will be made of leaves with long stems 4"-12" and some what scrolled so that they touch at random places where I can weld them together, I will also put a few flowers where the leaves are and maybe even try to make a few small critters such as lizards and dragonflies to put a little more life into the project.

Because of the information on this site as well as a few others I am now looking at this as a good way to practice and learn real hammer control, hoe to use an anvil, what metal to use for this type of project, the idea that when I make something I should consider it as an art project instead of just a piece of metal, what the different tools are and how to use them, how to make the different tools I need, I could go on and on.

The nice thing about the internet is that it to is a torch barer. The information we post to this site and others like it will be here for as long as this site is active or until it is deleted. If this information is allowed to be copied to other sites, respectful of copyright, It will remain for the life of the internet. there are also sites which archive sites for histories sake and are a nice place to go search for older stuff when it is no longer available. Internet Archive Has a copy of this site all the way back to Feb 13 2003 for instance. I hope that all who think the information they posses will die with them will put it out here on the web for the rest of humanity to find when we need it. I am grateful for the knowledge you guys have shared with me and intend to pass it on to my sons and hopefully grandchildren when that day comes. I would like to even pass a little back up to my dad :)

I then finished cooling it down with slowly pouring 10 Gal of water over it and was left with this:



I have now sanded the top with a belt sander and knocked the burnt oil and paint off but the belt sander did almost nothing to the few scratches the new face had in it from it's previous life. These scratches are not deep and will likely be hammered out soon enough anyway. I Also took my grinder and clened up where the welds come near the face as well as putting a "Hardy edge" along the back of the new heel. It is only about 3/8" thick there anyway and my edge is only at a 45* angle.

Sorry no picture of the "finished" product but it worked MUCH better as an anvil, and I can still use the Pot Iron nose to cup my leaves :)

I started cutting out the pieces of my new anvil and found I was going to need a bigger torch tip!


So I decided to try and fix the HF - ASO...

I cut a piece of the end off the smaller fork, still 5" wide and 10" long and about 3/4" thick at the thick end, and put it with the anvil in front of my makeshift propane burner to preheat the 2 before welding. This was necessary because the ASO is cast "Pig" iron.


Once I noticed the face of the anvil starting to glow a bit I placed the "new" face down on another piece of iron and set the anvil face down on it. I used a 7024 (iirc) rod and welded the top to the anvil. I figured to "quench" it a little by pouring a bit of old motor oil over it...


And since I seem to like fire ... I had to give it a few more squirts.

When I decided to take up blacksmithing as a hobbie I went looking for an anvil... before I went looking for information about anvils! I checked around at a few places and ended up at Harbor Freight. They had a 55# anvil on sell for ~15$ so I go it and brought it home.

The next day I was looking around the web for more information and found several sites talking about anvils and discovered what you guys already know! This anvil is not an anvil it is merely an Anvil Shaped Object. :mad: After I built my forge I tried to make a leaf key chain and found this anvil was great for that, the more you used it the more dished the face became and made it possible for you to use the face directly as a spoon/leaf swage... good if that is what you wanted to do... not if you wanted an ANVIL!

So I decided I had to build a new anvil and set off to the local scrap yard to buy some steel for the purpose. I settled on some forklift forks and grabbed some other stuff for later while I was there.


In the back of the last image you can see my first attempt at creating a forge. Think it turned out more like a smelter than a forge.

Take a cell phone into HF and photograph the bender you like, then see if you can build it for the price they are asking + the cost of mods you are looking for.

illustrius prez of the SCABA? If so can I just hand him the money to join?

I could make it after about 4:30 PM if you guys would still be around, would be coming from work unless you were going to be around later on so I could have time to go home and change to more suitable "work" clothing.

This brings up a question of what you guys do when a beginner blacksmith comes up and wants to learn a few things?

As a beginner I would like to know what the best way to approach a demo so that I could actually see "The right way to do it" as apposed to the way I have envisioned it by reading trying it my self.

I usually try to keep the idea of the more I learn the more I realize I don't know and refrain from "Spouting off" ;)

Found this site by browsing AnvilFire, which I found by google. I appreciate the BP section! The work you people have put into that section is inspiring!

I made it to page 80 something before giving up and skipping to the last 3 pages of the "It followed me home post" but have read all of the BP pages and bookmarked several I want to try as soon as I get my tools and anvil made.

Speaking of an anvil... I found 2 large forklift forks Saturday at the local salvage yard for $150.00 The are about 4` to the bend and 3` to the top and are 5" wide x about 2.5" thick. I intend to cut them up and weld the pieces together, by the time I am finished I think it will be about 400# so-far I have cut one in 3 pieces... may have to go get a bigger torch tip and another bottle of Ox

Currently I have a HF ASO which is ~55# and welded (can`t really hurt the thing since it is made of "Pig" iron anyway... and only cost about $15.00 new from HF) to a A frame built of I beam from a trailer house frame that followed me home after my dad bought a piece of land that needed cleared. This aso has the rebound of about .5-1.0% but doesn't bust up like a concrete floor, which has better rebound. :confused:

My forge... well I started with a WMO (Waste Motor Oil) forge I built after looking at MANY plans on the internet and after I had it working very well I find that here in and around the OKC area there is no source of free WMO as it is sold to companies which take it north to be used as home heating oil. So I have attempted to convert my WMO forge to a gasser... well a gasser seems to need a lot of refractory to generate enough heat to forge with so I have found a source for fire brick. (ACME Brick if anyone is interested in OKC area)

So any way enough of an intro I guess, I am very open to any suggestions and a quick learner but I may be more of a reader than a poster, have always been told it is better to listen than speak.